Appeals court sides with man seeking Sumner schools records

A Tennessee appeals court has weighed in on a battle over public records waged against the Sumner County School District, siding with a Joelton man who sought records but was initially denied.

Three judges of the Tennessee Court of Appeals said in a unanimous Friday opinion that the district was wrong to deny Ken Jakes' public records request on the basis it was not made in person nor via mail.

"(Jakes) was forced to either make his request by mail or in person," the appeals judges wrote. "These requirements, considered individually, have been specifically held unlawful."

The judges upheld a November 2015 ruling from Sumner County Criminal Court Judge Dee David Gay.

Gay ruled the district's policy violated the Tennessee Public Records Act, which includes language that the law “shall be broadly construed so as to give the fullest possible public access to public records.”

The district appealed.

A statement from schools spokesman Jeremy Johnson says the district got bad legal advice from the state's Office of Open Records Counsel and says the appeals court handed the district partial wins in saying the district does not have to pay Jakes' attorneys fees, and other issues.

"We are disappointed that the court decided that the board’s former policy did not comply with a 2008 version of Tennessee’s public records statute, especially because the Office of Open Records Counsel, which has the legal duty to interpret the act, informed the board that its policy was lawful and that its response to Mr. Jakes’ request was appropriate under the law," a statement reads. "The board could not have predicted that a court, three years later, would disagree with the Office of Open Records Counsel’s advice."

He said the board adopted a new public records policy that complies with the law.

The opinion from appeals court judges John W. McClarty, Frank G. Clement Jr., and W. Neal McBrayer not only directs Sumner County to comply with records requests, but serves as a reminder to agencies statewide that public records requests must be honored in whatever form they come in.

"An important takeaway from this case is that local government entities cannot put up barriers and obstacles that skirt the purpose of the public records act and are more burdensome than state law allows," said Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, which filed a brief in the case in support of Jakes. "That’s what happened in this case. The school board was making it difficult to inspect records when all they had to do was email back a link to this particular record that was online."

Jakes, an open government advocate and unsuccessful candidate for a seat on Metro Council in Nashville, filed a lawsuit after his March 21, 2014 public records request was denied. Jakes originally sought the district's public records policy.

Johnson said the district does not plan to further appeal the court's ruling.